DTI's aim is to close the performance gap between the UK and other major trading nations. To this end, it puts in place policies and programmes to help businesses innovate and succeed as we all face the challenge of the knowledge driven economy.
In particular, it seeks to increase the capacity of business, including SME's to grow, to invest, to develop skills, to adopt best practice, and to exploit opportunities abroad, recognising the development of the knowledge economy and taking account of regional differences.
The Communication and Information Industries Directorate of DTI aims for the UK to be a leader in the global Information Society. Among its objectives are that the UK should benefit to the full from emerging Information Society applications and multimedia technologies thus giving it a leading position among advanced economies in the Information Society and the enlarging market for communication, information and electronic industries.
The Directorate has had a long involvement in UK efforts to promote electronic messaging which will facilitate effective e-commerce applications. DTI sees the coherence of the UK effort in this area as vital to the ease with which UK business can adapt rapidly to the electronic environment.